New enhancements coming to WDW's Haunted Mansion for the 50th anniversary?

[George Lucas on a Bench]

What about the man in the spider web? That's WDW's closest equivalent to the hat box ghost.

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

Got to thinking a little more about the Ghost Bride. If they were to scrap Constance (can they please?) I think I'd like a return to the old bride but with an updated effect. Ideally, a ghost bride that's a cross between the original skeletal bride and the more human-like version in Tokyo. The effect would essentially be her transforming from a skeletal, wispy apparition to a more full-bodied spirit every time her heart beats. And to keep it low budget and as "analog" as possible... I'm thinking a UV effect similar to how they did the Barbossa Ghost AA in POTC. But really, I'd be good with any Ghost Bride update so long as they get rid of the projected Connie and her stupid suitor storyline.

 

[Dragonman]

That’s a great idea honestly. I’d love an upgraded AA because she only ever moved her arm and they added a rotating platform underneath her in the 90’s.

 

[Speedy71]

Got to thinking a little more about the Ghost Bride. If they were to scrap Constance (can they please?) I think I'd like a return to the old bride but with an updated effect. Ideally, a ghost bride that's a cross between the original skeletal bride and the more human-like version in Tokyo. The effect would essentially be her transforming from a skeletal, wispy apparition to a more full-bodied spirit every time her heart beats. And to keep it low budget and as "analog" as possible... I'm thinking a UV effect similar to how they did the Barbossa Ghost AA in POTC. But really, I'd be good with any Ghost Bride update so long as they get rid of the projected Connie and her stupid suitor storyline.

This^^^ I personally can't stand Constance and her one liners makes me cringe every time. I'd personally would love to have this version of the bride there is just something eerie about a ghostly bride without facial features. I'd also would take a copy of Tokyo's version.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I loved hearing this: “Please drag your wretched bodies into the dead center of the room...”

Guess that’s too much to ask management for these days.

 

[Rich Brownn]

and bring back the big spider

Lord, the absolute cheesy thing ever in the Mansion. Looked like something out of a carnival ride.

 

[Rich Brownn]

I know I’m going to get a lot of hate for this...

but Disney should get rid of the Ghost Host’s hanging body.

I know it is an iconic Haunted Mansion effect, but it really needs to go. We can’t forget that the Haunted Mansion is an attraction at the Magic Kingdom and there shouldn’t be a hanging body anywhere in the Magic Kingdom or in any Disney park for that matter.

It is also so very unneeded. Have the Ghost Host say “There’s always my way!”, let the lights flicker, and play the sound of a man falling to his death. Subtle and simple.

For those who don’t have a problem with the effect, I want to know why. Yes, I know it is supposed to unsettle you, but should I really be thinking about someone hanging themself while at WDW?

The hanging body is an unexpected, graphic depiction of suicide and should not be accepted in a family-oriented attraction.

And this is how the Magic Kingdom got its reputation for being a kiddie park :/

 

[Rich Brownn]

Agreed on most all of those changes.
I would also like to add...

- Get the CMs to actually play the Haunted Mansion roles better. The last few times I went on that ride over the last few years I have had some little whiny guy screeching at people to move into the center of the room as if this was just ANY ride and not a Haunted house.
I also have heard some CMs talking about getting on shift and things of a personal nature as I walked into the load up area.
That drop in CM quality has Bob Iger written all over it.

- Improve the lighting effects in the graveyard scene. It's gotten to the point where we even have a hard time seeing the opera singer for crying out loud.

- Use some new projection technology to have ghosts flying overhead in the graveyard scene.

- The original hitchhiking ghost effects need to come back. This new interactive effect never has worked right and if you aren't sitting just right it never looks right. They are trying to do too much. Sometimes less is more.

- I would love to see a creepy fog pouring out of Gracey Manor as you approach. That's easy to do. It would make it more forboding and scary.

- Once you get into the Haunted Mansion area and the sound effects take over to transition you into horror mode, Disney needs to work hard to have the CMs maintain the tone as well.

- At night time it would interesting to see ghostly figures appearing in some of the windows of Gracey Manor as you approach as well.

The candle lady isn't there anymore? (Its been a while) - where the shadow walked along the windows on the ground floor.

 

[FigmentFan82]

I don't agree with adding the hatbox guy to any other version of HM. It should be something unique to DL because it was never in WDW and not a part of its history. Go ahead. Throw shade.

no

 

[Imagineer999]

Lord, the absolute cheesy thing ever in the Mansion. Looked like something out of a carnival ride.

I agree that it was cheesy. The Escher Staircase is a much more impressive scene.

Tokyo, on the other hand, does have some pretty nice spiders. Unlike MK's, Tokyo's spiders are always maintained, well lit, and they don't shake. They appear to be tiny AAs with moving legs.

 

[peter11435]

I didn't even know there was a candle lady. But I've seen nothing in the windows at Haunted Mansion and I have gone every year since 2005.

You’re just not looking at the right time.

 

[Dragonman]

Another removed thing I’d like to see back is the purple ghost shroud in the seance room. Simple but effective.

 

[Rich Brownn]

I didn't even know there was a candle lady. But I've seen nothing in the windows at Haunted Mansion and I have gone every year since 2005.

Yeah at night there used to be a shadow apparently holding a candle that would to through the conservatory and then window to window on the bottom level. It wasn't continuous though... just showed up every now and then.

 

[MotherOfBirds]

Yeah at night there used to be a shadow apparently holding a candle that would to through the conservatory and then window to window on the bottom level. It wasn't continuous though... just showed up every now and then.

I liked these effects because they helped set the atmosphere and show that something spooky is (maybe) happening inside, but you'll have to work up the nerve to go inside and find out. PLQ pretty much destroys that. It just an instant tension-killer. I love Marc Davis as much as the next HM fan, but this isn't the the MD part of the ride. This is the Coats/Atencio part of the ride. It's supposed to be creepy at this point, not silly.

Plant some smaller creep effects around the grounds a la the Leota tombstone: faint echo-y cat noises by the pet cemetery, moans or whispering by the hearse, light/movement effects in the windows that are visible in the daytime. Maybe make the music sound like it's coming from inside the facade rather than over the speakers throughout the queue.

Giving the devil his dues, I do like the wedding ring they (intentionally this time) buried in the cement in the queue. It's the totally wrong bride for it, but I still think it's a nice subtle touch.

 

[TheBlackPrince666]

Here's one I've wondered about. This seems to be a fairly original soundtrack from WDW's Haunted Mansion someone uploaded on Youtube. You can hear a distinct growling laugh near the end of the attic scene at 14:53. You only hear it once there, so maybe it was originally supposed to be from the Hatbox Ghost since he was placed near where you leave the attic?

Those are the laughs/ growling sounds that are played when you get off the ride, and walking through the crypt where the busts are singing the ending of grim grinning ghosts ("If you would like to join our jamboree, there's a simple rule that's compulsory...")

 

[MattFrees71]

Those are the laughs/ growling sounds that are played when you get off the ride, and walking through the crypt where the busts are singing the ending of grim grinning ghosts ("If you would like to join our jamboree, there's a simple rule that's compulsory...")

Cool, that must just be at Disneyland. I've never heard it at WDW.

 

[JohnD]

One suggested "enhancement" is the removal of the portrait photo "enhancement". It totally ruins the prior effect. Was better when the portraits were dark then, with lightning, outlines light up in neon. For example, the woman became Medusa. Now they're just bright paintings accompanied by a flash for your photo right at the same time the Ghost Host tells you, "No flash pictures please. We spirits are sensitive to bright lights." Grr.

 

[TheBlackPrince666]

Cool, that must just be at Disneyland. I've never heard it at WDW.

Maybe they are only at Disneyland, and i'm just getting them confused.

 

[TheBlackPrince666]

One suggested "enhancement" is the removal of the portrait photo "enhancement". It totally ruins the prior effect. Was better when the portraits were dark then, with lightning, outlines light up in neon. For example, the woman became Medusa. Now they're just bright paintings accompanied by a flash for your photo right at the same time the Ghost Host tells you, "No flash pictures please. We spirits are sensitive to bright lights." Grr.

Yes I wish they'd revert back to the previous changing portraits with the electroluminescent lights instead of the new LED's, get rid of the cameras, take down the black drapes around the paintings, and add the suspenders back that made it look like they were hanging from the wall. The new ones don't look as good because the entire picture lights up now.

 

[JohnD]

Yes I wish they'd revert back to the previous changing portraits with the electroluminescent lights instead of the new LED's, get rid of the cameras, take down the black drapes around the paintings, and add the suspenders back that made it look like they were hanging from the wall. The new ones don't look as good because the entire picture lights up now.

I would rather they do it at the end during Hitchhiking Ghosts. You're facing straight ahead anyway. Have a camera take a photo of you (hopefully without a flash) then insert a random ghost (not necessarily the one from the effect) into the photo. Done.